


Rebirth (Beta)

by Mindless_Drivel



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21660121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindless_Drivel/pseuds/Mindless_Drivel
Summary: Soldiers that are fallen into the hands of the enemy are now serving as black ops units for that country, and must now go back to their own. Through a trial of fire and blood-stained lies, how will these people escape from a country where treason means death?
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

I heard it again; the whispering echoes that accompany me in this boring, never-changing world. An angelic voice of a woman: yet soothing, is also a part of this wretched place. I cannot see her, but I can sense her. She’s always near me with those watchful eyes of hers; the idea of being watched makes me sick, but this guidance gives me a certain kind of serenity.

“Tell me, dear traveler, why do you come back to this wasteland?” she asks with a worried tone. But she’s right. This is how I remember my hometown. Destroyed, and reeks of Death everywhere. And who wouldn’t think I’m crazy, coming back here again? I still remember the screams of the people I used to know, the look on their faces as they accept their end here. These malevolent visions keep come back to haunt me. Like an unliftable curse.

“This place gives nothing but despair and suffering to you. This place only seeks to consume you. So why?” her tone seems like she’s about to cry. It’s always like this. But time and time again, I always reply with that same, yet unique response:

“You’re right, it’s sickening for me just to be here. This place, like a clockwork yet no time is ever present. Like a place of music yet no ears would be willing to listen. Be that as it may, even if this road, this possibility, leads to Hell itself, I’m willing to walk down this path. And take back what is rightfully ours! The bastards will give me answers, and everything else I fucking needed to take from them; their heads, even!”

This again? It’s always like this. Every time I give out my answer, like a predetermined phenomena created by the gods themselves, my consciousness start to fade; I’m at the verge of waking up from this repetitive nightmare. I’m sinking again. I should be feeling the fate of drowning in this watery-like descent, but I seem to be alright. After all these repetitions, I already know why it’s like this. But I would rather not clarify. It’s always soul-crushing despair that follows in every truth you learn in the real world.

“...up.”

There it is again. In all these times I have seen this nightmare unfold, I couldn’t understand her parting words. At least, until now. She extends something out to reach me... Her...hand? A voice shortly follows: “Don’t give up.”

And as if it’s impulse, I reached out for the hand. Like I’m still clinging on to hope. And just like that, everything became white. And then...


	2. Stormkeeper

“-ne!?”

I jolted myself awake as cold sweat ran through my body. This time, I felt adrenaline rushing through my veins. I was breathing heavily; gasping for air, even.

“But who…?” I asked myself while still trying to catch my breath. I swear I just said a name. A woman’s? But the only person’s name who I can think of screaming in the middle of the night is...

“No. This isn’t good.” I shrugged the thought off of my system, thinking it was just another senseless, everyday drivel I’m usually having when I just woke up from a bad dream. “Just relax. Breathe.” I closed my eyes and started regaining my composure.

As I was finishing up, the sound of a familiar voice enters through my ears.  
“Michi? You okay there?”

I rubbed my eyes before answering. “Yeah, sorry Kozlov. Just that the nightmare I had last night was different from the usual one.” Yes, it was my old pal from way back then. He was sitting on the top of the bunk bed we were so graciously given. It’s a miracle how we are even allowed to sleep on one. Let alone have a room for partners.

I sluggishly reached for the wristwatch on top of the desk beside my bed; 5:24 AM, it reads. A little bit too early for the ceremony, I almost never wanted to go, honestly. Not with that creeping thought in my mind. I need to shake this off somehow. And so, I got out of bed and went to take a bath. Hot baths in the morning feel the fucking best especially if you want to forget about something, even if it’s just temporarily. Maybe it’s just placebo effect at this point, but I didn’t care. It works wonders for me without thinking about alcohol.

As we were just heading out, Kozlov gives me a pat on the back and a light jab on the chest; a thing I told him to do when I have nightmares. It gives me a sense of “validity” of my existence, though I didn’t tell him that. I just told him I needed a wake-up call.

The barracks seem a bit too lively today. Well, that’s a given since it’s us trainees’ special day. Granted, the food in the mornings taste like absolute shit, but that didn’t stop us from merrymaking. To us, it only gave us more reason to celebrate after-party. If the General follows through her promise, of course.

Nobody is at the shooting range today. Who could have guessed that even the higher-ranking officers give a shit about our graduation, huh? As much as I would love to use the facility, I’d have to refrain for now. I’m going to be late, I forgot that Kozlov likes to leave me alone in my own deep thinking. Enough of that, need to focus.

“Okay, looks like it’s a full fucking house today.”

Seeing the stage so lively almost made me feel like I’m a student again, not some soldier that just finished 3 years of rigorous training. Never in my life would I ever thought of feeling like this; relief and sadness at the same time. Last time I got here was when all of the graduating recruits, me and Kozlov included, just stood here while General Jeanne, the one who took us in, is explaining why we are here and yada yada. Never really listened much, all I know is that I needed to enact revenge. “A massive coup; one which the world hasn’t seen before. It must be perfection. It must be a masterpiece!” is what I was thinking at the moment. At that point, I have no idea what to do, until all of us actually started to talk to each other. Placed our trust in ourselves, and now we’re a huge family. A sad, pathetic family trying to overthrow the balance of this country and everyone who stands against the Vatherland’s will. The country might be destroyed, but the will lives on in all of us who survived.

Silence filled the whole room, leading to me leaving my own little world of self-loathing and immense planning. I look up to the platform, now I see why. It’s General Jeanne. Everyone stood straight and salutes before her presence. And then she speaks:

“Welcome, gentlemen. This is a day of celebration: Rejoice! For the recruits who have survived extensive training, by the regimen of yours truly, who are initially Recruits, have finally graduated to Privates. Now, Privates. In the three years of fun we’ve had with each other, I hope you’ve ingrained in your minds what it means to be a soldier for Her Highness and her country. Do you have what it takes to fulfill your duties?”

Everybody screamed in unison. “Sir, yes, sir!”

“Excellent. I am moved by your own dedication to serve Her Highness.” the General cleared her throat and fixed her cap. She fixed her posture before continuing:

“Let me reintroduce myself. I am General Jeanne, head of the Imperial’s Duodecim, and the graduating Privates will be my subordinates under a Company of 200. Gentlemen, welcome to Hell!”

All of us repositioned ourselves and exclaimed in unison, “It is an honor, sir!”

The General salutes back to her subordinates. As we all lowered our arms, she raised her other arm and snapped her fingers, the sound enveloping the whole place. Suddenly, a roaring applause engulfs the whole place, along with shouting and cheering.

“I...did it.” I let everything sink in first before I went batshit crazy in the party, hoping I would forget what happened this morning.

Of course, I was the last one to go. I didn’t want to deal with people pushing and grinding against each other, so I waited. I guess it just didn’t sink in to me yet, but I think it will this time. Oh well, time to go.

In front of the doors of the cafeteria, I can already hear how much they love the food. Who fucking wouldn’t, the General herself is the cook, for fuck’s sake! We are definitely blessed by the gods today, that’s for sure. I open the doors, and I’m greeted by a lively family of 199. Have I accustomed to this sight yet? Hell yeah. I love my brothers and sisters.

I sat down, waiting for the lineup, just like everyone else. After what it feels like a light year, the cook herself has graced us with her presence. Along with a nicely set amount of dishes placed side to side together she unraveled upon in front of our sights. Oh, we are not worthy! Smite me, gods, if you must! This is Heaven to my taste buds!

After everyone had calmed down after eating so much, we finally have the main event: booze. It is said that in the early days, mankind has learned to live and co-exist with others through the bonds of drinking the finest beer together. No idea where I heard that from though, maybe in my history class? It was so long ago anyways, best not to think about it. Bottoms up.

Fifth glassful in, I’m still sober, surprisingly. But as I scan around the area, about half of us were knocked out cold. Most of them women, of course. Except for Janna, lady’s got ahold of herself nine drinks in, strong girl if I do say so myself. ‘Tis about time we wrapped this whole thing up, we needed people to carry the ones who are sleeping, after all. And then it hit me, this is also the time where I need to carry Kozlov’s heavy ass to our room. Thankfully, it isn’t that far, but I pity for those who are. Poor bastards. I guess all those training paid off, at least. I just hope something like “someone falling off the stairs” doesn’t happen.

After dealing with Kozlov and taking his heavy ass on the top of the bunk bed, I decided it wasn’t the time to sleep yet. I checked my watch: 21:09. Time to grab some smokes.

Except I didn’t have any. I guess it IS time to sleep, after all.

I sat on my bed and let out a huge sigh. “I guess it’s gonna start in two days, yeah?” I checked my left arm, which is the only part of my body that isn’t made out of flesh. I pushed buttons here and there to make sure everything is working as intended, natural thing to do upon waking up and before going to sleep.

“Everything’s normal.” I let out a sigh of relief. I, then, pushed the eject button, causing it to dislocate from my shoulder. Well, “remove itself” would be a better term; little bolts slowly turn to unbind themselves. And now I’m holding my left arm on my right. Amazing how technology works. I put down the mechanical arm and kept it safe in a box under my bed. Easy access, sure, but reverse psychology works, trust me.

I took one final glance at my new prosthetic arm and looked back on the day I lost it. I remembered I was supposed to be taking my finals in my university back in Germany. It was an eventful day for me, then my vision went dark as a sound of rustling and rumbling suddenly comes crashing at me.

Then, bam! An explosion. A bomb? I’m not so sure anymore. Everything was pitch black. I was starving because I haven’t eaten breakfast that day, and because of that I couldn’t muster up the strength to move. I can breathe, but air is scarce. I knew I needed to move my body, and quick. Until they found me. Wriggling, wallowing in despair. They couldn’t move the debris holding my left arm, so they asked me if I want to live. Of course I wanted to! The fucker cut my whole left arm with a machete, I survived the blood loss, but I don’t know why, or how.

But I’m here. Alive. And that means I still need to do something. Anything. I needed a purpose. Revenge is just an afterthought; what I really wanted was to take my own country back to its former state, and former glory. And to do that, we need a huge plan. One that can even impress the god of war. And that plan is going to be set in motion,

Right. Fucking. Now.


	3. The Price of Power

"--chi? Michi? Wake up already!" I woke up to the sensation of my cheeks being pinched. I rubbed my eyes awake and sat up; as my vision got clearer, with no ounce of strength left, I find myself sitting atop a grassy hill overlooking a beautiful ocean resting below a starry night sky. Truly a breathtaking sight that many yearn to see; the howling wind, the salt in the air, everything seems so...real. But if she's here, then this must be…

"A dream?" I muttered to myself as I try to feel the grass. As she heard my mindless rambling, she turns to me and pinches my cheeks.

"You were sleeping on my lap so of course you were dreaming, you dork!" as she said that, she stops toying with my cheeks and gives me a hearty laugh. I laugh as a natural response; she's awfully bubbly today, as if she was a kid who just got her birthday present, "Who uses the word "dork" nowadays anyway?" I argue, containing my euphoria.

We talked for what felt like hours, ranging from things like what the butterflies do in their free time to her asking my thoughts about slavery. I don't like it when she talks about heavy shit, but I'll make an exception this time; I'm in pure bliss, I'd wish to never wake up again. Sometimes she would crack jokes, and we laugh in unison; a laugh so heartfelt that I've never felt so alive in years.

Suddenly, tears start to flow from her eyes, I tried to wipe her tears but my arms failed me; it's as if my whole body started to become undone. She finally breaks the silence between us, "I'm glad we were able to talk once more, even if I was only a fabrication of what's the real thing. I'll see you again soon, Michi!" she said with a teary-eyed smile, "It's time for you to wake up, sleepyhead!"

It wasn't too long after that the ground starts to liquefy; this familiar sensation of drowning seeps in my body once more. I know once this happens, there's no use resisting, this million-year descent will start again, and my thoughts wander off someplace else, to someone else entirely.

"It's alright, I'll be waiting. Don't give up!"

My consciousness starts to fade, and moments later, I slowly opened my eyes to reality. This is the first time I have ever woken up peacefully. I tried to stand up, but a wave of discomfort suddenly hit me; not enough to cripple my body, but it's like migraine mixed with nausea. Instinctively, I ran to the bathroom, which is tedious to go to since it's at the end of the hall, but my consciousness fails me. I stumble and fall but I feel no pain; my thoughts were focused to just lie down there, probably safer than wandering around aimlessly.

When I woke up, I was put in an unfamiliar room. I scanned around to see that this was...  
"The infirmary?" I check my bed and clothes and yes, this is the real deal.

"Yes, Captain. Care to explain why General Jeanne was carrying you?" a familiar voice comes from behind the curtains surrounding me; it feels like I'm going to undergo a surgery at this setup and I did not like it. But nevermind that, did she say...?

"The General carried me here? Gods, what a lucky coinki-dink. If it was someone else, I'd probably have demerits by now for sleeping outside my room." I sigh as I tried to sit up facing the window. It was snowing; an event I haven't enjoyed ever since I was enlisted in the military. It used to be fun, but in missions, it's a hassle because no light vehicles can ever cross roads with snow that thick.

"Hey Captain, what do you think?" she removes the curtains on the foot of the bed, "Is it ash, or is it snow?" at first I didn’t get what she was asking, but after a while, I get what she was trying to tell me.

"I would rather not know." I answer with a hint of sadness in my tone.

"Is that an answer as Michikov, or as Captain Schwarz?"

"As Michi. If I were asked as Captain Schwarz, I'd say this is ash." I sigh as I stood up, deciding it was time for me to get out of this hospital gown, "I don't like the snow. It reminds me how weak I was back then. You know who I am right, Doctor Jade?"

"A child who should have died yet here alive; a survivor of the Royal Army's bombardment attacks." she closes the curtains once more as she notices I'm trying to change my clothes.

"Then you know what I want, Doctor." I quickly get to my uniform so that I can go to our business posthaste, "I will turn this country and everyone who stops me into ash. But to do that, I need power; a power only you can give me." she chuckles; I hear a clinking sound from behind the curtain, presumably one of her "toys" that I should not ask about, else I'd be stuck with her science lessons for one day.

"Are you ready to go to the path you have chosen, even if it leads to Hell?"

"I'm already walking the path of Hell; all I need is a little push to make it out alive." I remove the curtain, she gives me a smirk and hunches over, looking at me from a lower angle makes me feel queasy.

"Aren't you all grown up, little Michi?" she fixes her posture and laughs as she was going for the door.

"How many times have I ever told you not to call me that? If someone else hears you calling me that, I'd never hear the end of it from everyone." I follow her outside, we walked through the halls as we talked about why I was found passed out in the middle of the hallway. I check my wristwatch: 13:04, how many hours was I out anyway? On second thought, I'd rather not know, it was already a disgrace to be caught unconscious.

And after a while, we arrived at her lab; more accurately, where guns and armor are constantly being experimented upon. From new sights, possible attachments, the lab has everything, except that I've been asking for a STORM, a Secondary Tank Offensive Restraining Mech, for a year now. But it's here at long last: my ticket to sure-fire victory. As long as I have this then…

"Now hold on a minute." Jade stops me from trying to touch it, and presses a button on its left wrist, opening the back part of the armor, making it accessible, "It's all yours now, Captain. Use her well, as she is my masterpiece!" she gives me a thumbs up, probably expecting praise from me, but I digress; I turn to the suit and wear it. Surprisingly, it's a perfect fit, maybe it's designed to automatically fit the user's body: sets a new high score for "mysterious" in my book.

"Take care not to damage the energy reservoir and regulator; it should endure a chunk of damage but you never know what could happen out there."

"Energy reservoir?"

"See those empty sockets on your back? You can fit up to four of those bad boys that gives lots of pure magic, going to the regulator in which it spreads proportionally all throughout your body; it is there so you don't waste even a drop of it.”

I turn my back to the mirror and I see what she's talking about, having four of these must be heavy if that were the case, but it's not a bad idea, considering she said I can take a fuckton of damage, assuming she's correct, but then again, when is she ever wrong when it comes to this?

As the Professor insisted, I took off the armor so she can make the final touches, and once she's started working on something, no one's stopping her, not even the pangs of hunger, and so I am eternally worried. I checked on my watch, 19:42; figured I wasn't going to do anything else after this, I watched her do her shit, just in case she needs someone else, or so I thought at first. Once I started to observe her movements, it hit me. Everybody else is desperately fighting against fate just to have a better tomorrow, not just us, but also the countries we are in a war with. I have stared Death right in the eyes once so maybe that feeling is foreign to me, but deep down I wanted to be "alive" once more.

Another thing I've noticed is that military technology is way ahead of the general public's; proof that mankind is progressing through seemingly endless conflict with ruthless enemies. But in turn, those weapons and scientific breakthroughs have pushed us and our boundaries, setting a new record for innovation, making everyday life easier. Is it because humans have an affinity for conflict, or do they desire something that is only born from within fighting amongst ourselves?

The world will never know, we only strive to get results and move forward, and speaking of moving, I better get going. Best lock the door on the way out since she doesn't notice anyone else while she's at it.

To my surprise, Jeanne is just outside the door, coffee cans in both her hands, waiting...for me? As I was just thinking it would be impossible, she notices me and I'm greeted by one of those cans, flying straight to my face, in which I catch in time. Never would I have thought intense reflex training would come in handy with little things like this.

"Giving me the cold shoulder? How about warm coffee to thaw them out?"

"I made the General Jeanne herself wait for me, what a disgrace I am as a soldier. Bleh, thanks for the free shit though." upon closer inspection, this is the coffee I used to drink a lot while in training. Guess she was looking out for her recruits, after all.

"So, what do you think? Can you use a STORM unit?" 

I took in a bit of caffeine in my system before answering, "Piece of cake, I can take down a whole batt--"

"We both know I'm not talking about that." she sighs, making me drink more, "What I mean is, do you have a reason to wield such power?"

I choked on my drink as she asked me; I cut through a moment's hesitation but she struck at the very root of it. Yes, that very idea has been bugging me for a good while now. While I was dazed at her question, she pops open her can; a small sound is loudest while one is lost in thought.

"So I was right. If you really wanted revenge, then you could just killed me during training."

"Goddammit, I can't even refute what you've just said, but even then, what can I do? I know deep down that revenge satisfies nothing, but we fight to survive, and that fact will never change as long as we are in war!"

"Keep fueling yourself with hate and it will be your downfall." she gulps her coffee in one go, presumably warm after that little argument, before slowly walking away, out of my sight, leaving me with my thoughts in disarray. I turn to the sky and stare at the stars, looks like they've started to move.

I gulped my fill of cold coffee and kicked the can as hard as I can as soon as I let go of it. Dammit, no one here to listen to my bitching and whining. Guess I'll go to sleep, but honestly, it feels like Julianne is saving me instead of me saving her. What can I do, though? She's on the list of people who died in that earthquake. Was I actually hoping she was alive? What do I really want in this fleeting life? And why am I questioning my motives now?


	4. Blindspot

My dreams are abruptly ended as I wake up to the sound of sirens. Like the others, I hastily get up and get ready for combat; a kind of discipline instilled in us back in training camp. I get my pistol and knife ready and looked at them for a short while, thinking maybe there will be a peace of mind for me after all of this fighting, though that rarely even comes.

We mobilize in teams of 20; 10 trucks in total. We are shortly briefed about the situation en route. Long story short, they captured our base of supplies and we need to take it back immediately without getting too long to do so. I look at my watch; 22:50, we start the operation at 23:00 and we should finish up before midnight. 5 minutes later, the trucks halt and we started walking. A 3-minute brisk walking should do it from this distance.

We are now at a close proximity of our now former supply center; the snowstorm is quickly picking up, must have been why we were told to hurry it up. I look at my watch once more; 23:00. I signal the others to start the infiltration. We’ve been trained how to capture enemy points and strongholds, so this is great training for that. I started to scurry through this snowstorm, with bayonet in hand and a silenced pistol holstered.

The front gates are open and there are tire tracks coming from that direction; they must have forgotten to lock the doors, or it’s a trap. But we don’t have much time, so we hustle up. Surprisingly, there are no traps installed. I signal my troops to enact the point capture training we did back then: separate in groups of how many should be captured, this time 4, and only give yourselves 15 minutes, retreating when the time is up.

So, we split into 4 teams, 50 soldiers each, and we move out; being teams A, B, C, D, with their respective capture point names. I lead the B team, going to the armory. There, we’ve found nothing but weapons and ammo, so I gave the order to retreat.

“All teams, come in, this is Beta Actual; Point B is clear. Give me a sitrep, over.” It didn’t take too long for everyone to report in: the other 3 points contain enemies, unknown descent. Alpha got 10 kills, Charlie got 7, Delta got 7, a total of 24. Weird, considering they captured the entire base.

“Did they pull out before we got here? I saw the tire tracks on the entrance. What do you guys think? Over.” I inquire.

“Yeah, we’ve spared one of them for questioning and it seems your hunch is right. They’ve pulled out an hour after confirming the capture of the base, leaving only these 25 soldiers behind to patrol and guard the area. Anyway, let’s all meet at the rendezvous point, I’m sure you all have questions that need answering. Charlie out.”

A few moments later, we see Charlie team waiting for us. We’ve waited until all teams are present to start the interrogation. I pulled out the tape recorder I keep for scenarios like this. Delta Actual notices this and taps me on the back.

“Dude, a tape recorder in this day and age of advanced technology?” he asks while holding back laughter.

“Listen, if I recorded this conversation using my arm, chances are it can be stolen via the internet or signal connection. Besides, this recorder in particular has some pretty neat recorded audio quality, and cannot be stolen via the internet: completely confidential from the eyes of the Central Data Collective.”

“I mean, I get that it’s a fair point, but I just can’t believe you still have one of those!” he finally laughs.

“Well, I take good care of things, old or new.” I took out a cigarette and light it; pressing the record button on the tape recorder, I immediately started the interrogation.

“It’s cold, we’re busy, and I’m in a hurry, so let’s get this over with. Who’s your handler?”

He doesn’t budge. I gave the tape recorder to Alpha Actual, Kozlov, and took out my silenced pistol, shooting him on the left shin.

“Wrong answer. I’ll ask again: who is your handler?”

He screams in pain. The snow must have made it worse. I punched him in the face. “I didn’t ask you to sing, you bloody bastard!” I grabbed him by the collar. “TELL ME!”

“W-We don’t k-know! AGH!” he’s running out of breath, “A-All we know is that...we’ve been ordered to s-stay here and standby…”

“BY WHO?!”

“I DON’T KNOW! He’s wearing this...armor, a STORM unit, so we can’t see his face…”

I let him go and smoked for a bit. I put the cigarette out halfway through, continuing the interrogation, “Who are you and why the hell do you know about STORM units?”

He laughs, and then screams in pain after I shoot his right shin. “Wrong answer again.”

“You motherfucker--ARGH!” he curls up, holding both his shins, wriggling on the snowy floor. I kicked him upright and stomped his chest area so hard, he started to cough up blood.

“I-I’m on the i-intelligence unit! I’m the only o-one here that’s in intelligence! The others a-are fresh privates from Poland!”

“THE POLISH?! When the HELL did they start to care about this war? Do you know, HUH?! INTELLIGENCE BOY?!” I picked him up again, grabbing on his collar, with both hands.

He laughs again, coughing up blood in the process. I must have broken a rib or two with that stomp. “Italy has j-joined forces with P-Poland for the first time in history, to take the Royal Army down. A new World War will surely be b-born. Ehehehe.”

I gave him to Charlie Actual and Delta Actual. “This man’s gone to shit. Restrain him and we’ll bring him to base for further interrogation. Inform the General about this. Charlie and Delta should go ahead and report on the situation; Alpha and Beta teams, we’re staying to patrol the area and confirm the capture. Make sure to bring the General with you on your way back here, Charlie, Delta.”

They both salute, and their teams return to the trucks to go back to base, as instructed. I looked at Kozlov; both of us know what to do in a single glance at each other. We split up and started to patrol the other half area; the area Alpha team’s not assigned to. For a while, we did not see anything suspicious, until I saw a building that’s run-down; almost looking old, even. I took my radio out to report in before entering it.

“All troops, come in. I’m entering a building on the coordinates I’ve sent through your Devices. If I don’t come back after 15 minutes, storm the building. I repeat: if I don’t report back after 15 minutes, storm the building. Until then, keep patrolling the area. Good luck, over and out.”

I took deep breaths before moving on as I’m getting really bad vibes from this place. Looks really shady, and a perfect place to hide something valuable; reverse psychology.  
I slowly opened the door, a small debris of wood and gravel falls in front of me. It’s a two-storey pub of some sort, a place untouched for a long time. It’s an empty building, at least from the looks of it. As I walked further in, I can sense...something; a powerful aura of insanity, or great power. Both? Regardless, it’s making me feel uneasy. I gripped my pistol tightly to prepare for something unexpected, but then, something hit me from behind, without even hearing any footsteps.

“Khuh--!?” I got thrown forwards because of the massive strength of that punch; destroying chairs and tables in the process. God, I think I broke a rib or two, maybe even my spine!

In a low, intimidating tone, he speaks to me, “Welcome to my place. It’s rude to just invite yourself in like that, remember to wait for the homeowner to open the door for you next time.” as if to mock me and disgrace me even further.

I coughed up blood, making me remember what I did to that Intelligence guy earlier. Seems like Karma does exist after all. I laugh amidst the pain; now I see why he was laughing so much back then. It was to distract myself from what I’m feeling right now.

“Weak. You’re too weak! You are NOT this weak, Snow! GET UP!” he exclaims in an angry tone.

"Snow"? Yeah, that’s right, that was my nickname back when we used to be in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in my hometown. We were only five people who survived and given codenames of our own choosing.

“W-Why do you...know that…? WHO THE FUCK...ARE YOU?!” I coughed up blood once more, this time, my consciousness start to fade. 

After that, everything went pitch black. When I came to, to my surprise, I was back in the infirmary. I have no idea what happened after I passed out, but it seems our meeting dragged on for more than 15 minutes, hence why I’m here right now. Did they survive though? I check my surroundings, and my body. My body is wrapped in bandages and I can feel some broken ribs. A healing canister is attached to my chest through a thin tube-like object. A few moments later, Doctor Jade comes in the room, and greets me with a kind smile; the smile you’d see on a parent’s face after her child did a job well done. “Welcome back, Captain.” she says. I sigh, thankful of me being alive: I guess the forces of Karma cannot let me die here yet. Not until I’m through with this world.


	5. Resurgence

“Don’t move too much; your body experienced great blunt-force trauma. It’s a miracle that you woke up after just 3 weeks, but perhaps that’s thanks to the drugs?”

“Boosters.” I refute, “Though I took two shots that day, given the heavy weather.”

“So that’s why you got in a comatose state. Huh.”

Well, that’s no surprise, given that my body has the capacity to handle a ton of external stress. And considering I was trained to deal with that shit, it’s safe to blame it on the drugs; the side-effects aren’t worth it for practical use.

“Ahem, now for some good news, Captain.”

And then I noticed that my body can move now, so I immediately did a body check to see what might have happened to me. The first thing I noticed was that my arm is not the same arm I used to know and love; a bit heavier, yet much less bulkier. There is still some residual pain stemming from my left shoulder; must have been from the operation I underwent to achieve this arm.

“--are you even listening to me?” the doctor calls out.

“Oh, I’m sorry doctor. I was just wondering what happened to my left arm; it’s a new model, I’m guessing?”

“And that’s what I was talking about earlier!” she flicks my forehead. It doesn’t hurt, but I feigned hurting. She sighs.

“Anyway, I will repeat it only once more: as you’ve noticed, we got you a new arm. Problem is, it’s something I personally created out of boredom. It’s not somewhere you can find anywhere, so you have to talk to me whenever there is a problem as I am the only one who knows all about the arm’s mechanisms. Second problem is, when we put this arm on you, the corrosion rate is higher than we anticipated. So alongside the medications I need you to take, I need to tranquilize you to prevent further disturbance of your mind’s state.”

I shrugged, “My mind’s state? So you mean I lashed out, or went berserk subconsciously?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Yes you did. It took us 4 people to properly tranquilize you, make that 5 if you include me.”

“Holy shit.”

“Any idea what would be the case?”

“My past. I don’t want to talk about it.” I pushed the topic away, for I am still having nightmares about it. It even affects how I think nowadays.

“Well alright Captain. But you still need to take medications at the moment. Once you’ve fully recovered, we need you for this battle. We need the STORM unit. We need you alive until after the war is over.”

I nodded. My body is too heavy for me to even retaliate. My senses are numb, my sense of time is fucked, and my conscience is hanging on the balance. My whole body is also fucked. I need time to recuperate, especially my mind, which is in total disarray. The doctor gives me the shot; my eyelids immediately feel heavy. I cannot resist it any longer; I fall into a deep sleep.

I’m sinking. This feeling...I am dreaming, I am sure of it. I have known this dream ever since that day. I sink slowly, further and further down as water enters my body. I suffocate, yet never pass out. As I reach the bottom of the sea, a great force pulls me right back out of the waters’ merciless hands. I reach the land, coughing and gagging all the water I took into my body. I gasp for breath until my breathing isn’t ragged anymore.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” Julianne greets me with that familiar, heart-warming smile that makes me all fuzzy inside. As I observed the surroundings, I noticed that this is the same grassy hill overlooking the night ocean. It’s the same as last time, but…

“Was that tree here the last time?” I subconsciously asked, “And it’s so full of flowers! What happened while I wa--”

“Eii!” and now she’s pinching my cheeks again, “My, you’re full of questions today! Don’t ask me, I don’t know either!” then she sticks her tongue out in a playful way. I removed both of her hands and intertwined them with mine. I’m happy, but the tears start to roll.

“Julie, I’m tired. I love you, and I want to see you again…” and then I embraced her tightly, like it’s the last thing I do. She pats and caresses my head in total silence. After some time, I stopped crying, and she hums me a song. This song that broke the silence pained me the more I listen to it.

“You remembered...my favorite song.” I say with bated breath.

“That’s right, Michi. That’s why, you have to let me go.”

And before I knew it, I had already shot Julie in the chest, further feeding into my darkest nightmares. At the time, I didn’t have control over my actions. And then I rushed over and held a dying Julie in my arms.

“No, NO! Julie! I’m sorry, it was--it was an accident! I had no...no, no NO!”

For the first time in my life have I seen my life flash before my very eyes in a dream. These nightmares come back to torment me, yet also give me the life that I once lost. If even this is taken away from me, then I’ll never know what to do…!

“Michi...help me...I don’t want to die…”

And just like that, her body becomes lifeless, with bloodshot eyes staring deep into my soul. Mixed emotions befall upon me. I panicked, followed by screaming. I screamed so hard, I’m still screaming as I wake up. I was profusely sweating and gasping for air, like I was fresh out of the waters from holding my breath for too long. My head hurts and my body feels heavy, like a flu just struck me.

“Captain! Are you alright?” Doctor Jade calls out to me with syringe in hand.

“Does this...look okay...to you…?” I answer, still catching my breath.

“Well, if you can answer me sarcastically, I guess you’ll do just fine.” she then puts the syringe down, “It’s a good thing I didn’t have to up your dosage of diazepam.”

“I don’t think I needed sleep anyways, doctor. The nightmares that are haunting me keeps fucking me in the ass.” I laugh sarcastically.

“Looks like it. Your arm’s on the table over here. The general wanted to see you before anything else.”

I get out of bed and get ready to go. Reattaching my new arm seems so familiar and foreign at the same time. I turn it on and see major differences in material and technological content between this and my former prosthetic arm. This one has an attached wrist pad for comms and just about everything a soldier would need for skirmishes.

“Thank you doctor. I’ll come back for maintenance.” she waves goodbye, and I get out of the medic bay with my thoughts still disorganized.

As I was walking down the corridor, I spot Ash standing outside the general’s office, rubbing his forehead in pain.

“Oi, Kozlov, what happened to your sorry ass?”

“Ah, Michi, here for the general? I gotta warn you though: she loves cans of coffee and she loves them even more when they’re flying.” he says as he walks the opposite direction while waving at me goodbye. God, I wish I can call that sarcasm; we’ve had our fair share of flying cans of just about anything back in training camp. At one point, out of frustration, she brought this box full of unopened cans of coffee and threw them at the trainees who stood still for a second or two during combat training, and she beats up whoever dares to try opening them! Sadistic bitch.

With that in mind, I knocked on the door and waited for her response.

I gently open the door.

“Sayor--!?”

And just like that, I was greeted by the same flying black can of coffee. In the face. Just like old times.

“Captain! Didn’t expect you to come in!” I rub my forehead in pain after that unfortunate experience.

“Oh yeah? Who were you expecting to see?” I groan. Then she gives me that mocking smug face I haven’t seen in years. God, I don’t know whether to kiss her or kill her sometimes.

“That doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“Oh it does--God, I’m always stuck between a rock and a hard place with you, goddamn!” I enter the office moaning in discomfort.

“In a good way or bad?” she snickers.

“Both at the same time and I fucking hate it that you’re right most of the time!”

She laughs. She knows I can’t win against her in any argument. “Oh, I’m flattered. Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

I impulsively lock the door behind me, and fixed my posture. “Mission briefing, I assume?”

“Actually, yes. But before that, I want to ask you how you feel. Any kind of...displeasure you’re experiencing right now?”

“Aside from your throwing shit shenanigans, not really.”

“Hehehe. Excellent. Now onto some unpleasant news.”

Jeanne shows me several pictures of people on her desk. Doesn’t look like they’re natives here.

“Polish, I assume?” I inquire.

“Right on the money. Poland’s intervention makes it hard to end this war. Looks like they’ve had an agreement with Italy last year, and until now, they are continuing to supply firearms and ammo. The Polish are not exactly the friendly type of guys either, so I’m thinking that they made the first move to assist Italy.”

“We wouldn’t know until we beat the answers out of them either way. So, who are these guys?” I walk up to the table and scan the faces of these people.

“Do not hurt those people; they are our collaborators in this operation.” and then she pulls out a map, marking several highlight locations, including the boundary between Germany and Poland.

“The boundary here; I’m assuming this is our infiltration point?”

“Right on the money again! One more and you’ll score a bingo!”

“Right, back to the point, based on what you’ve said so far, we are to destroy their base of operations, supply, and support posts?”

“Bingo!” she claps, “You’re sharper than I thought, Captain.”

“Simple deductions, General.”

“Looks like I taught you well.”

I laugh. “If torturing us back in boot camp is considered training, then sure.”

“I’m touched, really. Now, operation starts in 5 days from now. Call your regiment at 0800 tomorrow for proper debriefing. We cannot fail this operation: this decides whether we win this war or not. I hope you understand, Captain.”

I salute. “Yes, ma’am!”

“Good response. Dismissed.”

“Now then, if you’ll excuse me.” then I exit the room.

A lot must have happened while I was out cold. Not to mention we’re near to winning this war for good. I guess I should thank whatever god kept me alive.

As I walk towards my room, I sigh heavily, hoping I would get a wink of sleep tonight, without thrashing about on my bed.

“Good night.” I greet a sleeping Kozlov, hoping the diazepam works wonders.

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to make it a public, free-for-all beta reading. If I plan to expand its universe and its characters into several series, I must improve my own writing, and thus, I won't plan to put everything else in here, for the time being. If you misclicked and/or you're interested in this series, please leave some constructive criticism, if you have any, and I will happily reply to and accept them all. Thank you very much for looking into this passion project of mine.


End file.
